My View: Sullivan County Legislature's Dems help their cronies, not the public

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Richard I. Coombe

Last November, Democratic candidates across Sullivan County promised good government. Turns out their definition of good government means large budget increases and political cronyism. Sullivan County Democrats are using taxpayer dollars to settle political scores and put political cronies on the payroll.Cases in point: n Overriding the tax cap: The alarming news that six of the seven Democrats in the Sullivan County Legislature voted to override the state’s tax cap law is very sad for taxpayers. Furthermore, it is November and still no tentative budget. Raising taxes and further depleting our meager reserves may lower our bond rating, increasing county borrowing costs, raising taxes and leading to even more home foreclosures.n Cronyism instead of competence: Even worse, while raising taxes, the county is engaging in cronyism over competence. For example, the same week the Democratic lawmakers overrode the tax cap, they hired one of their own – former Legislator David Sager – who actively campaigned for Democrats last year. Sager’s new salary: $76,000. Sager’s well-known tendency “to fly off the handle” hardly makes him qualified to work in the field of Social Services. In fact, in Ulster County, the appointment of a former lawmaker to a county job like this would be illegal – but it’s OK in Sullivan County. n Political vengeance: While ignoring the tax cap, Democratic Legislators are contemplating firing the highly successful Sullivan County Visitors Association and putting in their place a Democratic Committee member’s newly formed nonprofit organization. That same committee member writes a weekly column in a Sullivan County paper and widely supports the Legislature’s Democrats. Only in Sullivan County could such brazen cronyism take place.n Witch hunt against the sheriff: Despite the bipartisan opposition of town supervisors across the county, Democratic legislators created a commission to search for savings in his department. The current, popularly elected Sheriff Mike Schiff receives the overwhelming support of Sullivan County residents, yet legislators created a stacked deck to investigate his office and meetings are being held in secret. Legislators put Sager, who clearly does not have the experience to judge law enforcement and who now is a paid county employee, on the commission. Examining government from the outside is a good thing. However, that examination must be made by experts free of personal biases, and it must be done in an open and transparent way, not cloaked in secrecy behind closed doors. This one just doesn’t cut it.Change is needed. Months of decisions made by the new Democratic legislators fail to demonstrate a new direction. Attacking the highly respected sheriff, busting the budget and then using those dollars for cronyism and politics instead of results cannot possibly be the legacy that our legislators hope to leave behind. It is not too late to change, and a course correction is clearly needed. The legislature should start by immediately passing legislation prohibiting legislators from being appointed to a county job for at least two years after their legislative service. They should appoint commissions to investigate Social Services and DPW because they are the most costly departments, and all commission meetings should be held in public. Lastly, they can stop the rumors by giving a vote of confidence to the highly respected and effective Sullivan County Visitors Association. We all deserve a better and brighter future for Sullivan County, and we need a course correction now.Richard I. Coombe is the Sullivan County Republican Party chairman.